Ski brake

ABSTRACT

A ski brake including a length of spring wire of round crosssection, having a central shaft portion extending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the ski, and acting as a pivoting axis of the brake, one end portion extending beside the ski and acting as a brake spur engageable with the snow, and the other end portion being bent to form a holding loop engageable by a ski boot to pivot the brake, against its own spring action, to a rest position beside the ski.

United States Patent [191 Wehrli [451 May 20, 1975 SKI BRAKE [76]Inventor: Hans Wehrli, Zurcherstrasse 81,

Rapperswil, Switzerland [22] Filed: Apr. 12, I974 [21] App]. No.:460,532

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 13, 1973 Switzerland 5387/73[52] US. Cl 280/1l.l3 B [51] Int. Cl. A63c 7/10 [58] Field of Search280/11.13 B

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,741,575 6/1973 Bortoli280/1 1.13 B 3,794,336 2/1974 Sittmann 280/1 1.13 B

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Switzerland 280/] 1113 B PrimaryExaminer-David Schonberg Assistant Examiner-David M. Mitchell Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Roylance, Abrams, Berdo & Kaul [57] ABSTRACT A ski brakeincluding a length of spring wire of round cross-section, having acentral shaft portion extending transverse to the longitudinal axis ofthe ski, and acting as a pivoting axis of the brake, one end portionextending beside the ski and acting as a brake spur engageable with thesnow, and the other end portion being bent to form a holding loopengageable by a ski boot to pivot the brake, against its own springaction, to a rest position beside the ski.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATEN TED MAY 2 0 I975 SKI BRAKE Theinvention relates to a ski brake.

One form of such ski brake has, on the outside of the ski, a brake spur,which can pivot around a pivoting axis running on the upper side of theski transversely to the longitudinal axis of the ski, the brake spurbeing held in its rest position by a holding levcr depressible by theski boot, and being pivotable into the braking position, in which itengages the snow, by spring action on removal of the ski boot from thebinding.

A ski brake serves to replace the safety strap fixed to the foot, inorder to avoid accidents which, should the skier fall, could be causedby the ski held by the safety strap being thrown around. Variousconstructions of ski brakes are known, in which on removal of the skiboot from the binding, braking members, which can be located either onone side or on both sides of the ski, are pivoted into a brakingposition by means ofa spring action and thus bring the ski to a stop.The relatively high cost isa disadvantage of the known embodiments. Inparticular, additional springs are fitted for the purpose of pivotingthe braking members into the braking position.

An object of the present invention is to provide a ski brake of the typeinitially described in such a Way that it functions reliably in spite ofgreat simplicity of construction.

According to the invention, this may be achieved by providing, in a skibrake securable to the upper surface of a ski and having, laterally ofthe ski, a brake spur which can pivot about a pivoting axis extending onthe upper side of the ski transversely to the longitudinal axis thereofand a holding lever depressible by the ski boot, to hold the brake spurin its rest position, the brake spur being pivoted into its brakingposition by spring action upon removal of the ski boot from the skibinding, the improvement consisting in that the brake comprises a wire,bent so that one end part forms the brake spur, a central first shaftportion lies in the pivoting axis, and the other end part is shaped intoa holding loop forming the holding lever, the free end of which forms asecond shaft portion which can pivot in its location about an axisarranged spaced from and parallel to the pivoting axis on the upper sideof the ski.

As a result of this arrangement, the spring force re- 'quired forpivoting the brake spur into the braking position and for holding thespur in the braking position, is generated by the shaping of the wire.The first shaft portion only of the wire may be of round cross-section,but preferably the whole of the wire has a round crosssection.

The invention will be more fully understood from the followingdescription, given by way of example only, reference being made to theaccompanying drawing, in which:

H6. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of ski brake according to theinvention, fitted onto a ski in the braking position; and

FIG. 2 shows a view from above of the ski brake according to FIG. 1, butin the rest position.

A holding plate 2 is fastened by means of screws 3 onto the upper sideof a ski l, which is only partially shown in the Figures. The holdingplate 2 is located near to a holding piece 4, not shown in more detail,for example a heel holding piece of a safety ski binding, and has afirst recess 5 which extends, in form of a groove, on the upper side ofthe ski transversely to the longitudinal axis of the ski. In the recess5, a round wire 6 is located which can pivot and the central part ofwhich forms a central first shaft portion 7. One end part 8 of the wire6 forms a brake spur 9 which is obtained by appropriate shaping of theend part 8. In FIG. 2, the brake spur 9 is seen to be bent back in theform ofa U and covered with a protective cap 10, for example of plasticsmaterial. The other endpart ll of the round wire 6 is shaped into aholding loop 11 which, in the rest position is pressed by a ski boot(not shown) onto the upper side of the ski and thus, at the same time,pivots the brake spur 9 into its rest position which is above therunning surface of the ski.

At its free end, the holding loop 11 forms a second shaft portion 13which is located so that it can pivot in a recess 12 of the holdingplate 2. As can be seen, the axes of the two recesses 5, 12 aresubstantially parallel and spaced from one another, so that an elasticpretension is imparted to the round wire so that, on release of theholding loop 11, the brake spur 9 automatically pivots into the brakingposition and is held there. Thus, the ski brake consists of two workingparts and is thus of extreme simplicity. It is expedient to provide arecess 14 in the holding plate 2, so that the holding loop 11 can becompletely depressed immediately onto the upper side of the ski.

A steel spring wire, of a diameter of about 2.5 3.0 mm, is suitably usedas the round wire 6.

We claim:

1. In a ski brake securable to the upper surface of a ski and having,laterally of the: ski, a brake spur which can pivot about a pivotingaxis extending on the upper side of the ski transversly to thelongitudinal axis thereof and a holding lever depressible by the skiboot to hold the brake spur in its rest position, the brake spur beingpivoted into its braking position by spring action upon removal of theski boot from the ski binding, the improvement in the brake comprising awire, bent so that one end part forms the brake spur, a central firstshaft portion lying in the pivoting axis and the other end part beingshaped into a holding loop forming the holding lever, said holding loopacting as a spring which moves the spur to its braking position andhaving two alternate positions, one position being against the ski whendepressed] by the ski boot and the other position extending outwardlyfrom the ski when the ski boot is removed from the ski binding, the freeend of said holding loop forming a second shaft portion which can pivotin its location. about an axis arranged spaced from and parallel to thepivoting axis on the upper side of the ski.

2. A ski brake as claimed in claim 1, and further comprising a holdingplate fastenable to the upper side of the ski, and means defining firstand second recesses in which the first shaft and the second shaft arelocated respectively.

3. A ski brake as claimed in claim 2 and further comprising a thirdrecess in the holding plate and a transition piece from said secondshaft portion into said holding loop lying freely in said third recess.

4. A ski brake as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising a protectivecap protecting said brake spur.

5. A ski brake as claimed in claim 4, wherein said protective cap isformed of a plastics material.

6. A ski brake as claimed in claim 1, wherein said brake spur is bentback in the form of a U.

7. A ski brake as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wire is of roundcross-section throughout its length.

1. In a ski brake securable to the upper surface of a ski and having,laterally of the ski, a brake spur which can pivot about a pivoting axisextending on the upper side of the ski transversly to the longitudinalaxis thereof and a holding lever depressible by the ski boot to hold thebrake spur in its rest position, the brake spur being pivoted into itsbraking position by spring action upon removal of the ski boot from theski binding, the improvement in the brake comprising a wire, bent sothat one end part forms the brake spur, a central first shaft portionlying in the pivoting axis and the other end part being shaped into aholding loop forming the holding lever, said holding loop acting as aspring which moves the spur to its braking position and having twoalternate positions, one position being against the ski when depressedby the ski boot and the other position extending outwardly from the skiwhen the ski boot is removed from the ski binding, the free end of saidholding loop forming a second shaft portion which can pivot in itslocation about an axis arranged spaced from and parallel to the pivotingaxis on the upper side of the ski.
 2. A ski brake as claimed in claim 1,and further comprising a holding plate fastenable to the upper side ofthe ski, and means defining first and second recesses in which the firstshaft and the second shaft are located respectively.
 3. A ski brake asclaimed in claim 2 and further comprising a third recess in the holdingplate and a transition piece from said second shaft portion into saidholding loop lying freely in said third recess.
 4. A ski brake asclaimed in claim 1 and further comprising a protective cap protectingsaid brake spur.
 5. A ski brake as claimed in claim 4, wherein saidprotective cap is formed of a plastics material.
 6. A ski brake asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said brake spur is bent back in the form ofa U.
 7. A ski brake as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wire is of roundcross-section throughout its length.